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House-keeping is now outsourced

— Photo: K.V.Srinivasan

At your call: Professional house-keepers come handy these days.

Having paid Rs. 65 lakh for the up-market flat they live in, the last thing that Ramesh and Jyothi want to be greeted with when they reach home is a malfunctioning security alarm that keeps screaming and cannot be switched off. Or a power cut coupled with a generator break down; dry water taps, or a stuck lift and a consequent walk up to their seventh floor flat. These are the things that happen to all us, at some point of time or the other. "Reaching home so late, we simp ly don’t have the energy to go looking for an electrician or a plumber, or the time to follow it up the next day", Ramesh says. Nor do the other residents in their apartment complex; which is why they have handed over this job to a professional housekeeping firm, which takes care of all the maintenance requirements of their apartment complex. Well, one of the last vestiges of the unorganised sector - housekeeping - is now getting outsourced.

"It becomes very difficult for residents’ associations to take up the maintenance of the complex on their shoulders. "Who has the time for it?", asks Chandra Reddy, a member of the residents’ association of Royal Orchards, an apartment complex housing 400 flats, a swimming pool, a gym, an auditorium, play ground, walking paths and even a temple.

Facility management is what the concept is known as in the context of commercial spaces. Lately, the trend has been spilling over to residential spaces. It is certainly only an up-market trend so far, but with a large number of high end apartment complexes getting to be built in the city with selling points like round-the-clock power back-up, hi-tech security systems, swimming pools, water recycling units, etc, the industry looks set to grow. Some of these luxury complexes and condominiums happen to be located in areas like the OMR, well outside the reach of the traditional ’next road’ electrician, to whom you can run to, to fix your blinking tube light. Developments like these have created a need for professional housekeeping services. And so, major real estate firms like CB Richard Ellis, flush with the success they have seen in facility management for commercial spaces, now eye residential housekeeping.

The concept has gained momentum in Mumbai and Bangalore, and Chennai is slowly joining the bandwagon. "The industry potential is pretty huge obviously, seeing that multinationals are now getting into it", says Simmiy Malhotra, Unicorn Services, which provides facility management as well as housekeeping services. Currently, analysts estimate that less than 10% of high-end residential apartments have outsourced their housekeeping to professional housekeeping firms, but the numbers are slowly creeping up. "We plan to put professional housekeeping in place in all the four residential projects we have on the anvil", says Hari Nair, VP, Sales and Marketing, Marg Constructions. "I foresee at least a 300% growth in the industry in the coming year", forecasts R Kannan, MD, Infratech Infrastructure Services Pvt. Ltd. "Especially so, as in most of the residential complexes that are getting built now, builders collect separate maintenance funds from the buyers, which is banked as a corpus fund to be used to employ a professional housekeeping service to take care of the complex down the years".

Firms like Unicorn Services also take up maintenance of corporate guest houses. These firms keep the guest house clean, cook for visiting guests, and customise services as per the requirements of corporate guests.

Likewise, some of these firms have also taken up the up-keep of individual flats in apartment complexes reserved for residents to accommodate their guests.

Builders believe that outsourced and professional property management ensures that the asset value of the building and the complex increases in the long run. While some builders extend their facility management service even after the sale to earn the good will of potential buyers who will be visiting these apartments, most builders hand over the maintenance to the residents’ association.

"What we find is, when the maintenance of these complexes is handed over to the residents’ association, most of them choose to discontinue the contract, because of the higher charges professional housekeeping involves", says Thirumal Govindraj, senior director of the real estate consultancy C.B. Richard Ellis. "But the difference would be about just 10 to 15% more and worth it", says Raj Kumar Reddy, MD, Vishranthi Homes, which is coming up with a 250-unit residential complex with a professional housekeeping service in place, on the Old Mahabalipuram Road.

When the numbers of the units in the complex are very large, the complex needs a professional agency to take care of it, he adds.

Analysts estimate that professional housekeeping charges are higher by one to two rupees for every sq foot . "The costs are higher because our processes are more stringent and use expensive material like bio-degradable chemicals and follow norms of minimum wages", says Thirumal Govindraj.

The other fact is, these firms need to keep stand-by personnel to substitute for absentee labour, puts in Simmiy Malhotra.

The other major challenge before the industry is in finding a steady labour pool. For instance, a 30-flat strong apartment complex would need about five people dedicated to the complex, including a skilled electro-mechanical supervisor. "It is very difficult to get skilled labour, and most of them are ready to jump to other jobs for an extra Rs.50", voices Simmiy Malhotra. On the other hand, an issue of concern is in ensuring that the labour pool that housekeeping firms provide is not misused by the residents for their errands and individual housekeeping.

So what are the services which come under this industry? Anything that you care to outsource – be it hi-tech services like management of security systems to the low-tech end of the spectrum like day-to-day sweeping and mopping.

These firms take up your needs for pest management, gardening and landscaping, will clean up your swimming pool, maintain your lifts, pumps, generators, air conditioners, CUPS and sewerage treatment plants, take care of your painting and plumbing needs, etc. Well, housekeeping outsourcing is about hassle-free living, if you can afford it.

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